Difference between revisions of "Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen"

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Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, surrounded by his 14 main disciples

Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361)was one of the most influential Buddhist masters in Tibetan history. He first became an important scholar of the Sakya tradition, but then moved to Jonang monastery. There he became the fourth holder of the monastic seat and constructed a monumental stupa. Dolpopa's ideas, specifically his famous formulation of the Shentong view and his interpretations of Mahayana and Vajrayana doctrine, have elicited controversy for nearly 700 years.

Dolpopa was born in the Dolpo region of present-day Nepal. He took ordination as a novice monk in 1304 and spent the following years studying the tantras of the Nyingma tradition. In 1309 he traveled to Mustang to study the treatises on the vehicle of the perfections, epistemology, and abhidharma under the master Kyiton Jamyang Drakpa Gyaltsen. Kyiton soon left Mustang and went to teach in the great monastery of Sakya in the Tsang region of Tibet, and Dolpopa followed him there in 1312.

Dolpopa received many teachings from Kyiton in Sakya, the most important of which were the Kalachakra Tantra, the Bodhisattva Trilogy (Sems ’grel skor gsum), the ten sutras on buddhanature (Snying po’i mdo), the five sutras of definitive meaning, and the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He became an expert in the Kalachakra tradition he received from Kyiton and served as his teaching assistant for several years. He also received teachings and initiations from other masters at Sakya, such as the Sakya throne-holder of the Khön family, Daknyi Chenpo Zangpo Pal (1262–1323). From Kunpang Drakpa Gyaltsen (1263?–1347?) he again received the Vimalaprabha commentary on the Kalachakra Tantra. From Senge Pal of the Sharpa family of Sakya, he received the teachings of epistemology, and from that master's brother, Kunga Sonam (1285-1346), he received the teachings of the Path with the Result and the textual transmission of many tantras of the Hevajra cycle.

In 1314 Dolpopa traveled to many of the great monasteries of Tsang and Central Tibet and received the epithet “omniscient” because of his mastery of scriptures such as the one-hundred-thousand-line sutra on the perfection of wisdom. He also received full monastic ordination from the abbot Sonam Drakpa (1273–1352) of Cholung Monastery and made the vow to never eat slaughtered meat for the rest of his life. During this journey he received many teachings of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, and the instructions of Severance (gcod) and the Pacification of Suffering (zhi byed).

In the year 1321, when he was twenty-nine years old, Dolpopa ascended to the monastic seat of Sakya Monastery. During the same year he visited Jonang monastery for the first time and was deeply impressed by the tradition of intense meditation emphasized there. He later often said about this significant occasion:

"No matter how many scholars would assemble, I had never been humbled and my confidence grew ever greater. However, when I went to Jonang and saw that every man and woman there, who were practicing seriously, had achieved a realisation of the nature of reality through meditation, I felt extremely humbled indeed. An uncontrollable faith and pure vision towards them was born in me!"

He then traveled to Central Tibet, where he had extensive conversations with the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), at the great Karma Kagyu monastery of Tshurpu. The Karmapa significantly prophesied that Dolpopa would quickly become even more expert in the view and practice.

In 1322 Dolpopa left Sakya and went to Jonang monastery, where he received from the master Yonten Gyatso (1260–1327) the complete transmission of the Kalachakra Tantra, the Bodhisattva Trilogy, and the Kalachakra perfection process practices of the Six Yogas. He then entered a meditation retreat at the Jonang hermitage of Khachö Deden (mkha' spyod bde ldan). After this retreat, Yonten Gyatso convinced Dolpopa to teach in the assembly at Jonang, and he also taught him many more systems of esoteric knowledge, such as the Path with the Result, the Five Stages of the Guhyasamaja and the Cakrasamvara, the Pacification of Suffering, and Severance. Dolpopa then visited Sakya at the invitation of Tishri Kunga Gyaltsen (1310–1358) of the Khön family, and offered him the Kalachakra initiation.

On returning to Jonang, Dolpopa began a strict retreat at Khachö Deden, meditating on the sixfold yoga for one year. During this time he achieved realization of the first four of the six, beholding immeasurable figures of the buddhas and pure lands when practicing individual withdrawal and meditation, and gaining exceptional experience and realization due to the blazing of blissful warmth when practicing breath control and retention. During this retreat the realization of the Shentong (gzhan stong) view first arose in Dolpopa’s mind, but he would not teach it to others until at least five more years had passed.

In 1325 the master Yonten Gyatso urged Dolpopa to become his dharma heir and accept the monastic seat of Jonang. This was completely at odds with Dolpopa’s own desire to practice meditation in isolated hermitages, but he finally agreed and ascended the monastic throne of Jonang in 1326. When Yonten Gyatso passed away the next year, Dolpopa decided to build a monumental stupa to repay his master’s kindness. In 1330 many skilled artisans and laborers gathered from different regions of Tibet. Building materials and supplies were brought from all directions and hundreds of workers labored while chanting manis and praying to the masters of the lineage. Dolpopa himself sometimes carried earth and stones and sometimes worked on the building of the walls.

During the intense physical labor on the stupa, Dolpopa gave many teachings on the ultimate significance of the Buddha’s doctrine. As the long central poles were placed in the stupa, he taught the Bodhisattva Trilogy to a huge assembly, explaining for the first time the distinction between the relative as empty of intrinsic nature (Rangtong, rang stong) and the absolute as empty only of other relative phenomena (Shentong, gzhan stong). He revealed the connection between his realization of the Shentong view, the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra, and the stupa of Jonang in a series of verses:

"Alas, my share of good fortune may be inferior,
but I think a discovery such as this is good fortune.

Is this discovery by a lazy fool
due to the blessing of the Kalki emperor?

I have not physically arrived at Kalapa,
but has the Kalki entered my faithful mind?

My intelligence has not been refined
in three-fold knowledge,
but I think the raising of Mount Meru
has caused the ocean to gush forth.

I bow in homage to the masters, buddhas, and kalkis,
by whose kindness the essential points,
difficult for even exalted beings to realize,
are precisely realized, and to their great stupa."

The raising of Mount Meru refers to Dolpopa’s construction of the massive stupa, and the "ocean" that flowed from the blessing and energy thus awakened was his famous work, "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning". The stupa was finally consecrated on October 30, 1333. In the following years Dolpopa mostly stayed in meditation retreat and had many visions. In particular, he directly beheld the pure land of Shambhala, the source of the Kalachakra teachings, and once claimed to have actually gone there by visionary means. Beginning in 1334, Dolpopa oversaw the re-translation of the Kalachakra Tantra by his disciples Lotsawa Lodro Pal and Sazang Mati Panchen.

In 1336 Dolpopa was invited to teach several thousand people at Sakya monastery. Calling upon the sutras and tantras as witnesses, he distinguished between relative and absolute truth by means of the categories of an emptiness of intrinsic nature (Rangtong) and an emptiness of other relative phenomena (Shentong). In 1338 he passed the monastic seat of Jonang monastery to his disciple Lotsawa Lodro Pal. Mongolian imperial envoys arrived in 1344 with decrees issued by the Yuan Emperor Toghon Temur inviting Dolpopa to China, but he retreated to isolated hermitages for the next four years to evade the request.

Dolpopa became extremely heavy in his later years and it was difficult for him to travel. But in 1358, when he was sixty-seven years old, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Central Tibet and traveled by boat down the Tsangpo River, stopping at different places along the banks to teach dharma. He stayed for one year at the monasteries of Nesar and Chölung, where he gave many teachings. The great Sakya master of the Khön family, Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312–75), came to meet Dolpopa at Chölung, received teachings, and asked him to compose one of his major works, the "Fourth Council" (Bka’ bsdu bzhi pa).

In 1359 Dolpopa slowly traveled by palanquin through Tsang and into Central Tibet, welcomed by crowds of people lining the roads and escorting him into the different monasteries. When he finally arrived in Lhasa he stayed for about six months and gave the instructions of the Six Yogas of Kalachakra many times. So many people came to request dharma that they could not fit into the buildings, and doors were broken and stairways collapsed.

At the beginning of 1360 a party arrived to invite Dolpopa back to Jonang. The people of Lhasa were distraught at the thought of his departure, and for some time his palanquin could not be carried through the crowds of people and horses. Many monks had to join hands in a circle around it and people who wanted blessings joined hands and scrambled under his palanquin. The monks recited supplications such as Dolpopa's "General Commentary on the Doctrine" (bstan pa spyi ’grel) while the masses of people wailed. Most of the crowd was hysterical and many could not even walk. When Dolpopa was helped into a boat to cross a river, many people jumped into the water after him and had to be saved by others.

As Dolpopa traveled back into the Tsang region he stopped to teach at various monasteries such as Ralung and Nenying. The ruler Pakpa Palsang (1318–70) and his younger brother Pakpa Rinchen (1320–76) had for some time wished to request dharma teachings from Dolpopa, but because of his weight it was too difficult for him to climb the long stairs to their castle. So he stayed on the plain below, where he spread out a huge silk mandala of Kalachakra and bestowed the great Kalachakra initiation.

As the procession of about one hundred people proceeded to Jonang, Dolpopa taught in all the large and small monasteries along the way. It was an emotional scene, with great crowds of people escorting him through the valleys, chanting the six-syllable mantra of Avalokiteshvara, making prayers, and weeping from faith. In 1360, Dolpopa arrived back at the great hermitage of Jonang and again stayed in meditation at his residence of Dewachen.

One day toward the end of 1361 Dolpopa said he wanted to go to the stupa, but his attendants said the path was unsafe because snow had fallen and assisted him to his residence. Tea was served and elder disciples were summoned for some private conversation. The master was pleased with everyone, and there was much joking and laughter. Then he went to sleep.

In the early morning his attendant served him, but Dolpopa did not reply to several questions and sat with staring eyes, appearing to be in deep meditation. Thinking he was possibly affected by the intense cold, his disciples took him out into the sun and massaged him. After about midday his eyes closed, and, without any sign of illness, he passed into deep meditation. He was then taken back into his quarters. After a few minutes he adjusted his body into the position of Vajrasattva and passed away into bliss.

Dolpopa’s body was placed in a wooden casket anointed with perfume and adorned with silk and precious ornaments, and put inside the crematorium. The body was extremely flexible, like a piece of cotton-wool. When the cremation began, the smoke rose only a few feet and then streaked to the stupa, circled it many times, and finally disappeared to the west. The men and women practitioners offered butter lamps on the roofs of their individual meditation huts, so that the entire valley sparkled. Until the smoke had faded away, each of them made prayers with tears flowing down their faces.

When the crematorium was later opened, some of Dolpopa's remains were distributed to the disciples who had received from him the transmission of the Vimalaprabha. Among the ashes were many relics that were clear like crystal. Then many votive images covered with gold leaf were made from the remains. Ashes from the cremation were gathered and put along with other relics into an image of Dolpopa that was placed in the great stupa he had built.

Literary Works[edit]

Collected Works of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen

Primary Teachers[edit]

Kyiton Jamyang Dragpa Gyaltsen
Yontan Gyatso

Primary Students[edit]

as listed in the "History of the Jonang School" (jo nang chos 'byung bzla ba'i sgron me) by Ngawang Lodro Drakpa:

References[edit]

The Buddha from Dolpo, by Cyrus Stearns. ISBN 0-7914-4191-1

External Links[edit]

Jonang Foundation[1]
Jonangpa Blog[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Dol po pa_1 copy.jpg|thumb|Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, surrounded by his 14 main disciples]]
-Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361) was one of the great luminaries of 14th century Tibet. Born in the present-day Dolpo region of Nepal, Sherab Gyaltsen was raised within the Nyingma tradition. When he was 17 years old, he fled to Mustang in search of his teacher Kyiton Jamyang Dragpa Gyaltsen, who was to be be one of Dolpopa's main teachers. At the age of 20, he went to the great monastic establishment of Sakya in Central Tibet where he studied intensively for many years. Among other teachings he received there, mostly from Kyiton Jamyang, the Kalachakra-tantra, the Bodhisattva Trilogy (sems 'grel skor gsum), the Sutras on Buddha-nature (snying po'i mdo), the Sutras of Definitive Meaning (nges don mdo) and the Five treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga). Until the age of 29, Dolpopa had already studied under more than 30 teachers, and had become an eminent teacher in his own right, having earned the honorary title "Kunkhyen" (Omniscient One).
+Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361)was one of the most influential Buddhist masters in Tibetan history. He first became an important scholar of the [[Sakya]] tradition, but then moved to [[Jonang]] monastery. There he became the fourth holder of the monastic seat and constructed a monumental stupa. Dolpopa's ideas, specifically his famous formulation of the [[Shentong]] view and his interpretations of Mahayana and Vajrayana doctrine, have elicited controversy for nearly 700 years.
-After travelling throughout Central Tibet on a tour of the most prestigious centers of learning, where he received instructions and transmissions from some of the most influential spiritual masters of the time, Dolpopa arrived at Jomonang for the first time. It was the year 1321. He later often said about this significant occasion: "No matter how many scholars would assemble, I had never been humbled and my confidence grew ever greater. However, when I went to Jonang and saw that every man and woman there, who were practicing seriously, had achieved a realisation of the nature of reality through meditation, I felt extremely humbled indeed. An uncontrollable faith and pure vision towards them was born in me!"
+Dolpopa was born in the Dolpo region of present-day Nepal. He took ordination as a novice monk in 1304 and spent the following years studying the tantras of the [[Nyingma]] tradition. In 1309 he traveled to Mustang to study the treatises on the vehicle of the perfections, epistemology, and abhidharma under the master Kyiton Jamyang Drakpa Gyaltsen. Kyiton soon left Mustang and went to teach in the great monastery of Sakya in the Tsang region of Tibet, and Dolpopa followed him there in 1312.
-A year later, in 1322, Dolpopa returned to the Ritro Chenmo at Jomonang to request the full empowerment of the Dro lineage of the Kalachakra Tantra from Yontan Gyatso, the throne-holder at Jonang who was to become his second main teacher. He then entered into a solitary retreat on the [[Six Vajra Yogas]] (sbyor drug) of the Kalachakra in the Khacho Dedan cave.
+Dolpopa received many teachings from Kyiton in Sakya, the most important of which were the Kalachakra Tantra, the Bodhisattva Trilogy (Sems ’grel skor gsum), the ten sutras on buddhanature (Snying po’i mdo), the five sutras of definitive meaning, and the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He became an expert in the Kalachakra tradition he received from Kyiton and served as his teaching assistant for several years. He also received teachings and initiations from other masters at Sakya, such as the Sakya throne-holder of the Khön family, Daknyi Chenpo Zangpo Pal (1262–1323). From Kunpang Drakpa Gyaltsen (1263?–1347?) he again received the Vimalaprabha commentary on the Kalachakra Tantra. From Senge Pal of the Sharpa family of Sakya, he received the teachings of epistemology, and from that master's brother, Kunga Sonam (1285-1346), he received the teachings of the Path with the Result and the textual transmission of many tantras of the Hevajra cycle.
-In 1326, Yontan Gyatso appointed Dolpopa as the 4th heir to the throne at Jomonang. Then from 1330-1333, inspired by having seen Thropu Lotsawa's great stupa, Dolpopa constructed the Great Stupa of Jonang. He then began to formulate his understandings derived from his meditation experiences. Beginning in 1334, Dolpopa oversaw a new translation of the Kalachakra Tantra and its main commentary, the Vimalaprabha, from Sanskrit into Tibetan by his disciples Lotsawa Lodro Pal and Sabzang Mati Panchen. Synthesizing the 3rd turning sutra discourses of the Buddha with the tantras, Dolpopa's teachings later were referred to as "zhentong," a term that he used to describe the ultimate nature of reality.
+In 1314 Dolpopa traveled to many of the great monasteries of Tsang and Central Tibet and received the epithet “omniscient” because of his mastery of scriptures such as the one-hundred-thousand-line sutra on the perfection of wisdom. He also received full monastic ordination from the abbot Sonam Drakpa (1273–1352) of Cholung Monastery and made the vow to never eat slaughtered meat for the rest of his life. During this journey he received many teachings of the [[Kagyu]] and [[Nyingma]] traditions, and the instructions of Severance (gcod) and the Pacification of Suffering (zhi byed).
-Following this, he spent several years in retreat before going on a teaching tour of the areas of Central Tibet. He drew crowds of tens of thousands of people, so large that often "interpreters" stationed among the crowds had to be employed, because people were so numerous that they couldn't get close enough to hear Dolpopa himself. Even though his teachings were highly controversial, it seems that there was hardly any eminent master of his time that had not come to study under Dolpopa. His disciples numbered in the thousands and he would instruct anyone who came to request instructions, be they high notables or beggars off the streets.
+In the year 1321, when he was twenty-nine years old, Dolpopa ascended to the monastic seat of Sakya Monastery. During the same year he visited [[Jonang]] monastery for the first time and was deeply impressed by the tradition of intense meditation emphasized there. He later often said about this significant occasion:
-In the last days of the Tibetan Iron-Ox year (1361) Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen passed away. His cremation was performed on the evening of the sixth day of the first month of the Tiger year (1362), among many wondrous signs. Huge offerings were performed and the ceremonies were attended by more than a hundred eminent masters from all traditions, and thousands of students. The many retreatants in the valley lit an ocean of butterlamps on the roofs of their meditation huts, illuminating the entire area of the Jonang valley. When his funeral stupa was later opened, a great many relics were found among the ashes. A large part of these were enshrined in the famous stupa at Jomonang, the rest was distributed among Dolpopa's numerous disciples.
+"No matter how many scholars would assemble, I had never been humbled and my confidence grew ever greater. However, when I went to Jonang and saw that every man and woman there, who were practicing seriously, had achieved a realisation of the nature of reality through meditation, I felt extremely humbled indeed. An uncontrollable faith and pure vision towards them was born in me!"
-Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen certainly was one of the greatest saints to ever grace the snowland of Tibet, whose sole aim in live was to revive and spread the definitive meaning of the Buddha's teachings. He did so with great patience, love and compassion, free of any sectarian bias.
+He then traveled to Central Tibet, where he had extensive conversations with the [[3rd Karmapa]], Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), at the great [[Karma Kagyu]] monastery of Tshurpu. The Karmapa significantly prophesied that Dolpopa would quickly become even more expert in the view and practice.
+In 1322 Dolpopa left Sakya and went to Jonang monastery, where he received from the master [[Yonten Gyatso]] (1260–1327) the complete transmission of the Kalachakra Tantra, the Bodhisattva Trilogy, and the Kalachakra perfection process practices of the [[Six Yogas]]. He then entered a meditation retreat at the Jonang hermitage of Khachö Deden (mkha' spyod bde ldan). After this retreat, Yonten Gyatso convinced Dolpopa to teach in the assembly at Jonang, and he also taught him many more systems of esoteric knowledge, such as the Path with the Result, the Five Stages of the Guhyasamaja and the Cakrasamvara, the Pacification of Suffering, and Severance. Dolpopa then visited Sakya at the invitation of Tishri Kunga Gyaltsen (1310–1358) of the Khön family, and offered him the Kalachakra initiation.
+On returning to Jonang, Dolpopa began a strict retreat at Khachö Deden, meditating on the sixfold yoga for one year. During this time he achieved realization of the first four of the six, beholding immeasurable figures of the buddhas and pure lands when practicing individual withdrawal and meditation, and gaining exceptional experience and realization due to the blazing of blissful warmth when practicing breath control and retention. During this retreat the realization of the [[Shentong]] (gzhan stong) view first arose in Dolpopa’s mind, but he would not teach it to others until at least five more years had passed.
+In 1325 the master Yonten Gyatso urged Dolpopa to become his dharma heir and accept the monastic seat of Jonang. This was completely at odds with Dolpopa’s own desire to practice meditation in isolated hermitages, but he finally agreed and ascended the monastic throne of Jonang in 1326. When Yonten Gyatso passed away the next year, Dolpopa decided to build a monumental stupa to repay his master’s kindness. In 1330 many skilled artisans and laborers gathered from different regions of Tibet. Building materials and supplies were brought from all directions and hundreds of workers labored while chanting manis and praying to the masters of the lineage. Dolpopa himself sometimes carried earth and stones and sometimes worked on the building of the walls.
+During the intense physical labor on the stupa, Dolpopa gave many teachings on the ultimate significance of the Buddha’s doctrine. As the long central poles were placed in the stupa, he taught the Bodhisattva Trilogy to a huge assembly, explaining for the first time the distinction between the relative as empty of intrinsic nature ([[Rangtong]], rang stong) and the absolute as empty only of other relative phenomena ([[Shentong]], gzhan stong). He revealed the connection between his realization of the Shentong view, the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra, and the stupa of Jonang in a series of verses:
+"Alas, my share of good fortune may be inferior,<br>
+but I think a discovery such as this is good fortune.<br>
+Is this discovery by a lazy fool<br>
+due to the blessing of the Kalki emperor?<br>
+I have not physically arrived at Kalapa,<br>
+but has the Kalki entered my faithful mind?<br>
+My intelligence has not been refined<br>
+in three-fold knowledge,<br>
+but I think the raising of Mount Meru<br>
+has caused the ocean to gush forth.<br>
+I bow in homage to the masters, buddhas, and kalkis,<br>
+by whose kindness the essential points,<br>
+difficult for even exalted beings to realize,<br>
+are precisely realized, and to their great stupa."<br>
+The raising of Mount Meru refers to Dolpopa’s construction of the massive stupa, and the "ocean" that flowed from the blessing and energy thus awakened was his famous work, "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning". The stupa was finally consecrated on October 30, 1333. In the following years Dolpopa mostly stayed in meditation retreat and had many visions. In particular, he directly beheld the pure land of Shambhala, the source of the Kalachakra teachings, and once claimed to have actually gone there by visionary means. Beginning in 1334, Dolpopa oversaw the re-translation of the Kalachakra Tantra by his disciples Lotsawa Lodro Pal and Sazang Mati Panchen.
+In 1336 Dolpopa was invited to teach several thousand people at Sakya monastery. Calling upon the sutras and tantras as witnesses, he distinguished between relative and absolute truth by means of the categories of an emptiness of intrinsic nature (Rangtong) and an emptiness of other relative phenomena (Shentong). In 1338 he passed the monastic seat of Jonang monastery to his disciple Lotsawa Lodro Pal. Mongolian imperial envoys arrived in 1344 with decrees issued by the Yuan Emperor Toghon Temur inviting Dolpopa to China, but he retreated to isolated hermitages for the next four years to evade the request.
+Dolpopa became extremely heavy in his later years and it was difficult for him to travel. But in 1358, when he was sixty-seven years old, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Central Tibet and traveled by boat down the Tsangpo River, stopping at different places along the banks to teach dharma. He stayed for one year at the monasteries of Nesar and Chölung, where he gave many teachings. The great Sakya master of the Khön family, Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312–75), came to meet Dolpopa at Chölung, received teachings, and asked him to compose one of his major works, the "Fourth Council" (Bka’ bsdu bzhi pa).
+In 1359 Dolpopa slowly traveled by palanquin through Tsang and into Central Tibet, welcomed by crowds of people lining the roads and escorting him into the different monasteries. When he finally arrived in Lhasa he stayed for about six months and gave the instructions of the Six Yogas of Kalachakra many times. So many people came to request dharma that they could not fit into the buildings, and doors were broken and stairways collapsed.
+At the beginning of 1360 a party arrived to invite Dolpopa back to Jonang. The people of Lhasa were distraught at the thought of his departure, and for some time his palanquin could not be carried through the crowds of people and horses. Many monks had to join hands in a circle around it and people who wanted blessings joined hands and scrambled under his palanquin. The monks recited supplications such as Dolpopa's "General Commentary on the Doctrine" (bstan pa spyi ’grel) while the masses of people wailed. Most of the crowd was hysterical and many could not even walk. When Dolpopa was helped into a boat to cross a river, many people jumped into the water after him and had to be saved by others.
+As Dolpopa traveled back into the Tsang region he stopped to teach at various monasteries such as Ralung and Nenying. The ruler Pakpa Palsang (1318–70) and his younger brother Pakpa Rinchen (1320–76) had for some time wished to request dharma teachings from Dolpopa, but because of his weight it was too difficult for him to climb the long stairs to their castle. So he stayed on the plain below, where he spread out a huge silk mandala of Kalachakra and bestowed the great Kalachakra initiation.
+As the procession of about one hundred people proceeded to Jonang, Dolpopa taught in all the large and small monasteries along the way. It was an emotional scene, with great crowds of people escorting him through the valleys, chanting the six-syllable mantra of Avalokiteshvara, making prayers, and weeping from faith. In 1360, Dolpopa arrived back at the great hermitage of Jonang and again stayed in meditation at his residence of Dewachen.
+One day toward the end of 1361 Dolpopa said he wanted to go to the stupa, but his attendants said the path was unsafe because snow had fallen and assisted him to his residence. Tea was served and elder disciples were summoned for some private conversation. The master was pleased with everyone, and there was much joking and laughter. Then he went to sleep.
+In the early morning his attendant served him, but Dolpopa did not reply to several questions and sat with staring eyes, appearing to be in deep meditation. Thinking he was possibly affected by the intense cold, his disciples took him out into the sun and massaged him. After about midday his eyes closed, and, without any sign of illness, he passed into deep meditation. He was then taken back into his quarters. After a few minutes he adjusted his body into the position of Vajrasattva and passed away into bliss.
+Dolpopa’s body was placed in a wooden casket anointed with perfume and adorned with silk and precious ornaments, and put inside the crematorium. The body was extremely flexible, like a piece of cotton-wool. When the cremation began, the smoke rose only a few feet and then streaked to the stupa, circled it many times, and finally disappeared to the west. The men and women practitioners offered butter lamps on the roofs of their individual meditation huts, so that the entire valley sparkled. Until the smoke had faded away, each of them made prayers with tears flowing down their faces.
+When the crematorium was later opened, some of Dolpopa's remains were distributed to the disciples who had received from him the transmission of the Vimalaprabha. Among the ashes were many relics that were clear like crystal. Then many votive images covered with gold leaf were made from the remains. Ashes from the cremation were gathered and put along with other relics into an image of Dolpopa that was placed in the great stupa he had built.
 ===Literary Works===